Re: Dino Genera & Species List 2005 (was Re: New version of Dinosaur Encyclopaedia)

["Jaime A. Headden" <qilongia@yahoo.com>]

Mike Taylor (mike@miketaylor.org.uk) wrote:

<I am sure I remember reading recently (and predictably I can't remember where)
that the section of the ICZN that governs what constitutes "publication"
contains wording that explicitly says electronic publications such a
_Palaeontologia Electronica_ don't count.  Am I mistaken?>

  There is an article, 9.8, which states that text or illustrations distributed
by means of the WWW don't count, however this is based on the premise of
exclusively internet-based features. So, blogs do not count as publication
sources. What does count, however, are places that have permanent physical
repositories (Rec. 8C), while Art. 8.6 refers specifically to non-paper
produced media, as long as it maintains copies in at least 5 major publically
accessible libraries which are identified in the work itself. The
_Palaeontologica Electronica_ specifies where it's hardcopy goes, I think.

  However, the ICZN has not clarified what to do in issues of priority when an
electronically published name occures before a paper-published synonym, and
Jerry Harris has appealed to the ICZN to clarify the issue, especially in
regards to the probable synonymy between *Epidendrosaurus ningchengensis* and
*Scansoriopteryx heilmanni*, which if the dating of the digital dates are
suppressed, will mean any subjective synonymy will favor the latter, however if
the digital dates for _Naturwissenschaften_, which it states are valid, are
upheld, the former is the senior synonym. So going on from here, if they are
synonyms, this issue is important in which name is treated as valid under the
Code.

  Cheers,

Jaime A. Headden

"Innocent, unbiased observation is a myth." --- P.B. Medawar (1969)

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